Spokane For Sale By Owner; Not a bad idea, if done correctly.

First, this isn’t a for sale by owner bashing session, I believe in it. After all, I’ve sold several homes on my own before getting into Real Estate. I understand why most people do it, but think that most people do it wrong.

I talk to a lot of Spokane FSBO’s, I think they are a HUGELY overlooked market for Real Estate Agents, mainly because most pay a reduced commission, or in some cases no commission at all. Talking to For Sale By Owners in Spokane, I always ask:

“Where are you going?” and “Are you working with an Agent?”

Eight out of ten times, they are already working with an agent, and the astonishing part is, when asked “How many FSBO’s have they showed you?” The answer is usually, “None.”

Stepping back and looking at this, I (and hopefully you do too) see a huge disconnect. Especially since according to the National Association of Realtors 83% of home buyers used an agent to purchase their home, and 51% of those buyers stated they hired an agent to “help them find the right home to purchase.”

The moral of the story?

Spokane FSBO’s need some sort of a relationship with an agent, at the very least some form of buyer agent compensation or you are literally leaving 83% of buyers out of your marketing plan. Not all agents are created equally, the 80/20 rule applies to the Real Estate industry more than ever, 20% (or less) of the agents do 80% of the transactions in town, partner with a good agent and you’ll have no problems.